Classic Hindi Melodies Make a Comeback

By Radhika Bhirani | April 18, 2013

Enter a dance club in New Delhi and chances are you’d find youngsters gyrating to the sensual “Dhak dhak karne laga” and the peppy “Naino mein sapna” — old but evergreen songs that gave Bollywood some of its famous latkas and jhatkas.

Be it in the film world or ad world, old melodies from the 1990s, 1980s and even earlier are striking the right chords with young music enthusiasts, who are loving and lapping up the snazzier and contemporary remixed versions of the tracks.

“Classic songs are coming back only because they were great,” Delhi-based DJ Khushi said.

It was hence only fitting for Sajid Khan to use “Taaki taaki” and “Naino mein sapne,” two hugely successful numbers from the Jeetendra-Sridevi-starrer Himmatwala for the forthcoming remake of the 1983 film.

Amit Kumar re-recorded his late father Kishore Kumar’s hit number “Naino mein sapna” and Sajid has said recreating the number was like being part of history.

If Jeetendra, touted as the Jumping Jack of the 1990s, rocked the original tracks, Sajid chose Ajay Devgn, known for having two left feet, for the new age version. The numbers are earning a good share of popularity.

“Dhak dhak karne laga,” best remembered for Madhuri Dixit’s sensual chest-heaving step, has a new avatar in Rohan Sippy’s Nautanki Saala, which also has a fresh flavor of the soothing number “So gaya ye jahaan” from the 1988 film Tezaab. Both of these latest tracks spell a techno feel, almost on the lines of the modern “Hawaa hawai” and “Khoya khoya chand.”

Karan Johar’s debutant-laden Student Of The Year made students go Disco deewane.“Old hit songs never go out of fashion,” said Sippy, who still has the “Sabse bada rupaiyya” remix from his 2005 film Bluffmaster as his caller tune. “We don’t try to compete with the original in any way, but I just love doing remixes,” Khushi said.

The popular qawwali “Dama dam mast qalandar,” originally sung by Runa Laila, now has a techno-rock version by Rekha Bhardwaj, who crooned it for the film David.

Karan Johar’s debutant-laden Student Of The Year made youngsters go “Disco deewane” to a fresh avatar of the 1981 Nazia Hassan hit pop track.

A whole lot of songs like this one are popular, but some don’t make it too big.

Reasons DJ Khushi: “These remixed tracks are doing well, but not all are too good in clubs and discs, as with time the sensibilities of music has changed, sounds have changed and the taste of people has also changed. Some classics do really well in clubs; some don’t.”

“But they are still great tracks,” he added.

TV advertisements aren’t wary of the trend either. The latest commercial for mango drink Slice has a remixed version of “Haal kaisa hai janaab ka” playing in the background with Katrina Kaif in a playful mood, while “Pehli taareekh” in Cadbury’s ads has been around for some time now.

Watch the SBI Life Insurance ad and the “Hum jab honge” track infuses nostalgia. The Nestle Kit Kat ad has two animated squirrels romancing to “Kaante nahin katte…I love you” from Mr. India, while the Hero Pleasure ad, starring Priyanka Chopra, has Salma Agha’s “Jhoom jhoom jhoom baba.”

“Aap yahaan aaye kis liye” is another hit number from the yesteryears used for Bharti AXA Life Insurance TV commercial.

For some the trend may be positive, but not everyone welcomes remixed versions with open arms. Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi is one of them.

“I’m not really happy with the use of beautiful old songs in new films. I don’t like remixed versions of classics. I feel one should come out with originals instead of using classics,” the actor said.